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Gorgonopsid
This article is for the Gorgonopid species regularly seen in the original Primeval programme. For the animal group, see Gorgonopsid (group) The Gorgonopsid was a large species of the group of mammal-like reptiles of the same name; one which resembled Inostrancevia and was known for being a deadly and effective hunter. Facts Gorgonopsids had a large, compact, four-legged body with a large head and snout; and they possessed mammalian specialisations including differentiated (heterodont) tooth shape, a fully developed temporal fenestra, pillar-like rear legs, and ear bones. Gorgonopsids were patient and implacable hunters, which could gallop at a top speed of 50 km/h (30 mph) and had a strong sense of smell. Once a Gorgonopsid smelled blood, it usually would relentlessly track and pursue its prey at all costs. After hunting down and killing their prey, Gorgonopsids sometimes stored it in trees like leopards to eat later. Incursions and encounters Episode 1.1 )]]Circa 1998, a Gorgonopsid came through an Anomaly into the Forest of Dean. It attacked Helen Cutter in an Asda shopping centre car park, then followed her back into the Forest. Eight years later, the Gorgonopsid appeared to guard the Forest of Dean as its territory; presumably, it had either returned to the present through the Forest of Dean Anomaly, or it had remained in the Forest in the present since it first came through eight years earlier. The Gorgonopsid killed a cow to eat and stored it in a tree, and went on to attack a truck. When Ben Trent, Rex and Abby Maitland came into the Forest of Dean, the Gorgonopsid stalked and followed them through the woods. Rex and Abby managed to evade the creature by hiding from it among shrubbery, and as dusk fell, the Gorgonopsid was drawn out of the Forest to Ben's house by blood from a cut on Ben's finger. The creature tried to eat Ben by smashing its head through Ben's bedroom window, but Ben was able to fend it off by throwing his belongings at it. and Nick Cutter. (Episode 1.1)]] The next day, the Gorgonopsid attacked Ben's school, and cornered Ben and his schoolteacher in a classroom and tried to break in, until Stephen Hart drew the creature's attention and lured it away from the classroom. The Gorgonopsid pursued Stephen through the school and cornered him at a fire exit, then attacked and knocked him out and left the school. The following night, the Gorgonopsid attacked the Home Office in the Forest of Dean at the site of the now-closed Anomaly, causing chaos until Stephen momentarily incapacitated the creature by driving a truck straight into it. When the Gorgonopsid began to recover, Stephen then gunned it down and the creature quickly died from its injuries. Episode 1.6 When Tom Ryan and his men, as well as Nick and Helen Cutter, travelled into the Permian in search of an Anomaly to the future, they were attacked by a Future Predator until a Gorgonopsid arrived. The Gorgonopsid briefly stunned the Predator and then proceeded to devour the Future Predator young. before devouring a Future Predator's young. (Episode 1.6)]] The adult Future Predator then recovered and viciously fought with the Gorgonopsid. The Predator managed to rip one of Gorgonopsid's eyes out and badly slash its neck, but the Gorgonopsid ultimately managed to kill the Predator by crushing it under itself. The Gorgonopsid then left with the Future Predator's corpse to eat. Other references Episode 1.2 Connor Temple mentioned meeting a Gorgonopsid to Tom and Duncan. When Connor and Abby Maitland were investigating a possible Anomaly incursion in the New Forest, Connor told Abby to just run if they encountered another Gorgonopsid. Episode 1.4 When Abby expressed adoration for the Dodos' cuteness and claimed it wasn't their fault they became extinct, Connor remarked that she hadn't been this sentimental about the Gorgonopsid the team encountered in the Forest of Dean. Episode 1.6 )]] Before she was erased from the timeline, Claudia Brown had nightmares in which she was attacked by a Gorgonopsid in the Home Office. Episode 2.1 The Gorgonopsids from Episodes 1.1 and 1.6 appeared in the recap of the previous series. Episode 4.1 The Gorgonopsids from Series 1 appeared in James Lester's recap of the previous three series. Episode 4.2 An archive shot of the Gorgonopsid from Episode 1.6 was on Creaturesightings.com. Trivia *In Episode 4.2, an archive shot of the Gorgonopsid that appeared in Episode 1.6 was used for a picture of a creature on Creaturesightings.com which the site believed to be a mutant lion. Due to this, some fans believe that canonically, the creature seen on the website may have been a Gorgonopsid. *The Gorgonopsid was the first ever creature seen in Primeval. *The Gorgonopsid's roar was a very repeated and recycled sound effect throughout Primeval's first series. It was not only used in the Gorgonopsid's appearances, but was used for the dinosaurs on Duncan's TV in Episode 1.4, and was also heard at the end Episode 1.6 when Cutter realised that history had been changed and the Forest of Dean Anomaly began to collapse. *The Gorgonopsid in Primeval bore a resemblance to the Gorgonopsids from Walking with Monsters. *In Episode 1.1, the Gorgonopsid's picture on its profile in Connor's database looked exactly like the Gorgonopsids that appeared in the show, skin texture and all. It is unlikely that a CGI restoration of a Gorgonpsid would have been this accurate. *The Gorgonopsid in Primeval was commonly believed to be a Gorgonops, but its physical appearance would imply it to have been an Inostrancevia. Also, the Gorgonopsid was shown co-existing with Scutosaurus in its Permian home; no Gorgonops fossils have been found in association with Scutosaurus fossils, but Inostrancevia fossils have. *The promotional image of the Gorgonopsid fighting the Future Predator was the same image used on a movie poster of Tyrannosaurus Azteca; although the Gorgonopsid's back legs (and the Future Predator) were removed and Tyrannosaurus rex's forearms were added and the front legs made it the hind legs. *Before Episode 3.10 was broadcast, it was speculated by fans that a Gorgonopsid would appear in it and kill Connor. A Gorgonopsid was also speculated to appear in Episode 5.6, but in both cases, this did not happen. Category:Creatures Category:Series 1 Creatures Category:Recurring creatures Category:Promotional Creatures Category:Prehistoric creatures Category:Paleozoic creatures Category:Permian creatures Category:Synapsids Category:Mammal-like reptiles Category:Creatures that cause deaths Category:Creatures that killed other creatures